LG Uplus said on the 13th it will run a 24-hour special response system centered on the AI-based "customer damage prevention analysis system (Secure.AI+)" to protect customers from voice phishing and smishing ahead of the Chuseok holiday.
During the holiday period, attempts to distribute malicious apps increase via calls and texts impersonating delivery companies, saying "please provide the address for your Chuseok gift delivery," requiring caution. Recently, a new tactic has surged in which people are lured into investing through unverified illegal investment sites or unofficial transaction apps, while attempting to install malicious apps on smartphones.
If a malicious app is installed on a smartphone, criminal groups can take control of the victim's handset via a command server and turn it into a "zombie phone." In addition to intercepting or blocking incoming calls, they can manipulate outgoing calls by the criminal group to display as 112 or 1301 (prosecutors), making victims more vulnerable to voice phishing crimes.
To prevent customers from falling victim to voice phishing due to such malicious app installations, LG Uplus will run a dedicated monitoring system at its Magok office in Seoul through the end of this month and strengthen activities to track and block malicious app servers. In particular, LG Uplus is tracking the malicious app command servers operated by voice phishing rings through the AI-based internal and external data integration analysis and response system, the "customer damage prevention analysis system (Secure.AI+)."
Alongside this, LG Uplus has established a hotline with police to swiftly share related information when a malicious app infection case is confirmed and to respond immediately to police requests for blocking.
In addition, if its own analysis confirms traces that a customer communicated with a malicious app command server, LG Uplus sends a KakaoTalk AlimTalk message to warn of the risk. Customers who receive the alert can visit a nearby police station or an LG Uplus store for consultation and assistance.
LG Uplus is also continuously training AI on spam and smishing text types that occur frequently during the Chuseok holiday to improve blocking accuracy.
LG Uplus also urged customers to exercise special caution. It emphasized that they should not click URLs included in texts from unclear sources, and that they should end calls immediately if someone impersonating a customer center or public institution asks them to install an app. It also requested that customers regularly conduct security checks using smartphone antivirus apps, and if a malicious app infection is suspected, report it from another phone to the Korean National Police Agency's integrated reporting and response center for telecommunications financial fraud at 1394.
Hong Gwanhee, head of the LG Uplus Information Security Center (CISO and executive vice president), said, "LG Uplus will operate a 24-hour monitoring system before and after the Chuseok holiday to do its utmost to prevent customer damage," and added, "Customers who receive a malicious app risk AlimTalk message should immediately visit the nearest police station or an LG Uplus store to receive the necessary measures."